Venezuelan-born woman's heartbreak after quakes

A Venezuelan-born woman has described the heartbreak she felt after seeing footage of the devastating damage caused in the country by last week's earthquakes.

Hortence Yagmur, who now lives in Arborfield, Berkshire, said the building she lived in as a baby in Caracas had been completely destroyed.

As of Thursday, 2,595 people are confirmed to have died in the quakes which hit on 24 June, and tens of thousands are still missing.

Yagmur said her family in the UK had an anxious wait to find out their relatives, who live just outside Caracas, were safe after communication channels were disrupted.

"Being so far away you just feel almost guilty that you're not there to help and you feel really powerless. It's just heartbreaking to see videos [of the impact and devastation]," she said.

"It's great that we can use social media to spread awareness but then every day you're here you just feel like you can't really do much apart from maybe do fundraising or things like that."

A Pilates instructor, she will hold a fundraising Pilates session in Christchurch Meadows in Caversham on Sunday from 10:30 BST with donations going to the Healing Venezuela charity.

"A lot of my family are just outside Caracas. I have some other family living in Spain. Even the ones outside Caracas have had the effects of the earthquake but just not as strong [as other areas]. So their buildings have cracks in some, some permanent damage," she said.

She said the impact of the earthquakes contrast with life in the country, which despite ongoing political instability, is welcoming and vibrant.

"It's just really beautiful, the beaches, the places, the people are so warm. They are always happy, they're always lovely," Yagmur added.